Pieceful Acre Needlearts: a cozy, rustic shop

Published 10:51 pm, Wednesday, July 11, 2012

DANBURY -- During spring and summer, Jo Ann Brown often can be found attending New England's fiber fairs.

The owner of Pieceful Acre Needlearts, at 66 Sugar Hollow Road in Danbury is always looking for new wool and fiber sources for her store.

Last month, she headed north to the Maine Fiber Frolick in Windsor. Sheep and alpaca farmers were offering their best fleece, and handcrafted spinning wheels were available for sale.

"I went to have my spinning wheel repaired," Brown said. "I picked it up when I was leaving and also brought home a supply of fibers."

Brown opened the Pieceful Acre Needlearts shop in May. The shop offers a cozy, rustic setting for classes in needle arts. It's also a good spot for chatting over a cup of tea.

Pieceful Acre Needlearts began as a quilt patterns website set up by Brown in 2000. Now it's a real brick-and-mortar retail location selling mainly yarn and offering sewing, quilting, knitting and crocheting classes.

"My mother taught me to knit and crochet when I was 10 and I never stopped," Brown said. "I worked at The Fabric Tree near the Danbury Airport for 10 years. Now that's closed. Pieceful Acre Needlearts is the only shop of its kind in Danbury."

"At this time, we're knitting items for the Lakota Sioux in South Dakota," Kempson said. "We like to choose a group that is not regularly being supported."

Kempson also likes the fun-loving nature of the Knitting Guild's 20 members.

"At the moment, we're doing a traveling sock project," she said, with a laugh. "One of us starts the cuff and one-inch of sock, then passes it on to the next gal who will add four inches. Right now, the last people are adding the toes."

Brown sees a great interest in needle arts in Fairfield County.

Pieceful Acre Needlearts is 2.8 miles south of Danbury Municipal Airport on Route 7 near the Danbury/Ridgefield line. It's open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, For information, call 203-731-9601.